Commissioner for a day: Bright Side of the Sun fixes the NBA

Posted on Aug 08, 2013

When I was delegated the duty given the privilege of representing BSotS in this theme day I instantly ran with the idea of implementing sweeping changes. Although David Stern has been such an endearing fellow over the course of his career and has carved himself a special niche in all of our hearts I believe there are still a couple things he might have missed. I know, I know... how could I say something that could be construed as even slightly critical of such a magnanimous and infallible leader. After all, just think of all the blessings he has bestowed upon the Phoenix Suns. Many of you probably view him as your favorite uncle, or possibly even as a father figure. I know I'm firmly affixed in the latter category.

But...

I still feel that several issues in the NBA exist and the current landscape could use some tilling. After all, we're all about creating fertile soil to cultivate things here on the Bright Side.

I could turn this into a tedious, protracted volume of the litany of issues that currently exist, but instead I've decided to confine it to the first three concepts I would introduce before breakfast. Being the new commissioner I would expect steak, eggs, bacon, hash browns, a bagel with cream cheese, fresh fruit and hand squeezed orange juice (done by table side). Consider these my morning cup of coffee issues.

What to fix:

1. Instant Replay

2. The Lottery

3. The All-Star Game

Instant Replay:

All out of bounds plays should be reviewable. Lots of them are easy calls, but when they are questionable the league should feel compelled to try to get them right. Lots of times the referees will have a discussion on the court anyway. The review probably wouldn't take any longer than that with today's technology.

Any play that results in a dead ball could be reviewed before the inbounds... as long as it doesn't disturb the pace of the game.

An additional "referee" should be watching from a remote location so he can focus solely on trying to get these calls right and relaying them down to the refs on the court. Five seconds? Clock it on the remote tv. I'm sure more applications could be brainstormed as well.

In the NBA Finals the refs missed an out of bounds call with about 3:00 left in a close game because it wasn't within their window. How is that not an important call to get right? Let's get it right NBA.

The Lottery:

Out of 1000 combinations

1. 180

2. 160

3. 140

4. 120

5. 100

6. 80

7. 60

8. 40

9. 20

10. 20

11. 20

12. 20

13. 20

14. 20

The number one pick would be guaranteed a pick no lower than 5 going down the line (instead of being currently assured of going no lower than four). Hopefully this would stymie the rampant tanking currently on display.

And... before that...

Out of 1000 combinations

11. 200

12. 200

13. 200

14. 200

#8 seed. 100

#8 seed. 100

I would actually set this up so that the #8 seed in both conferences have a 10% chance to draw into the lottery (and a 5% chance for the #1 pick after that). These would go in any order, i.e. 11 could drop to 16 and vice versa. I think this would create more competition for the final playoff spots.

The All-Star Game:

Fans will vote for 10 players irrespective of conference and position. The coach with the better team record will have the first pick as they go down the line and select these players. The coach that picked second will then have the first pick when selecting the reserves (once again irrespective of conference and position).

This should give the fans what they want and the coaches the ability to make sure the most deserving players are included in the game.

After Breakfast:

Who knows? What would you do? Tell me where I am fatuous or downright insane. Offer your own suggestions or modifications to my musings.